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sid_guardian2021-07-30 12:06 pm
shadaras) wrote in sid_guardian2021-07-30 12:06 pm
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Focus On: Chu Shuzhi Tries to Scare Guo Changcheng (by Pretending to be a Cannibal), Episode 32
This scene takes place in episode 32, from 20:53-24:45.
I’m using the community’s subs as my reference for dialogue. There are a mildly gratuitous number of screenshots because I really like Chu Shuzhi.
Lead-up
The scenes leading up to this conversation are Chu Shuzhi confronting the Regent about where Shen Wei is (wherein we are told he’s three days away from being released from the chunqiu shackles/his punishment), and Chu Shuzhi discovering that Chu Nianzhi’s puppet is gone (and getting understandably upset) and yelling at the Regent over this.
The Regent tells us that Chu Shuzhi was jailed for manslaughter (something Chu Shuzhi says he doesn’t want to repeat) and that Ye Zun has the puppet.
The Scene
Chu Shuzhi stomps through the streets of Dixing, Guo Changcheng hurrying behind. When Guo Changcheng calls his name, Chu Shuzhi stops with a dramatic sigh and eye-roll. He turns to face Guo Changcheng and why he’s still following; doesn’t he know who Chu Shuzhi is?
Guo Changcheng stutters out that he knows, and then says “No, no, I don’t know,” and continues to stammer as he tries to figure out what to say.
Chu Shuzhi interrupts him, shouting, “Didn’t you hear me? I’m a murderer!”
As Guo Changcheng continues not-quite-crying, Chu Shuzhi stalks in and says, “I don’t just kill people.”
He grabs Guo Changcheng by the back of his neck and draws him closer (which is quite sexy of him) before adding, “I also eat them.”
Guo Changcheng looks terrified as Chu Shuzhi really gets into this, asking if Guo Changcheng’s ever eaten human flesh while staring at Guo Changcheng’s neck like he’s about to chomp down.
Chu Shuzhi circles around behind Guo Changcheng while describing how “smooth and tender” human flesh is.
Then Chu Shuzhi grabs him and talks about how chewy cartilage is.
His diction slows as he talks about how fresh meat is so nice and warm, and then Chu Shuzhi chuckles, strokes his thumb along Guo Changcheng’s neck, and sniffs at Guo Changcheng’s ear.
Then he calls himself a man-eating demon, and Guo Changcheng really looks like he’s about to cry.
Chu Shuzhi laughs and ruffles Guo Changcheng’s hair, then lets his hand slide down Guo Changcheng’s shoulder before he begins to walk away.
Guo Changcheng, still very frightened, scurries along behind him. Chu Shuzhi pauses, as if in disbelief, then turns to look at Guo Changcheng and asks, “What, you really want me to eat you?”
Guo Changcheng doesn’t say anything. Chu Shuzhi turns, and keeps walking, and Guo Changcheng continues to follow. This time, Chu Shuzhi shouts, “Run away before I get mad.”
Guo Changcheng responds to this. He’s terrified, but he says, “No,” because Zhao Yunlan told him to follow Chu Shuzhi and he’s going to do it no matter what.
Chu Shuzhi turns and grabs Guo Changcheng by the chin, palm against his neck, and rushes him backwards; it looks like he’s carrying more of Guo Changcheng’s weight than Guo Changcheng is.
When they stop moving and Chu Shuzhi starts talking again, he’s holding all of Guo Changcheng off the ground with a single hand. This looks like it should be very uncomfortable for Guo Changcheng.
The root of why Chu Shuzhi’s so upset comes out now, as he complains (again) about how the penalty should’ve been enough. But now he adds, “How dare they disturb him [Chu Nianzhi] again?”
Chu Shuzhi shouts, “He’s already dead!” as he tosses Guo Changcheng aside.
Guo Changcheng lies on the ground, panting, and a lot of Chu Shuzhi’s anger seems to have been thrown away along with Guo Changcheng. It’s much more grief, now, as he quietly says, “There’s only so much I can do for him.”
He crouches down next to Guo Changcheng, and gently says, “Go back. Tell Zhao Yunlan I am nobody. No courage, no ability.” as a melancholy instrumental theme starts playing (I keep arguing with myself over if it’s ‘I Won’t Be Falling’ or ‘Chuxin’; I think it’s the latter but I’m not sure).
Chu Shuzhi continues, saying, “I’m a nobody anyone can trample on, but now I’m going to get back what is mine. When everything is over, I’ll go back to apologise.”
Guo Changcheng makes a truly agonised face as Chu Shuzhi stands up, and grief is clear on Chu Shuzhi’s face as he turns away.
His eyes are all red-rimmed with tears, and he walks away. Guo Changcheng, still on the ground, watches him go.
The scene ends there, and cuts to Shen Wei chained up on the Sky Pillar. (Chu Shuzhi is about to arrive, try to free Shen Wei, and start having a lot of feelings about Nianzhi because of Ye Zun’s fuckery.)
Some Thoughts
…first off, Chu Shuzhi being terrifying and trying to scare Guo Changcheng off is very hot and I just need to say this so that I can have more thoughtful words go through my head. xD
This scene comes in the middle of an episode that begins with Chu Shuzhi and Zhao Yunlan arguing, continues with Guo Changcheng having a bad dream about Chu Shuzhi choking him, and pivots around the SID team reacting to news spreading that they harbor a “heinous murderer”. All of this is priming viewers to remember Chu Shuzhi’s violence, so that we’re ready to accept the idea that he might have done something so terrible.
We’ve also been primed to wonder what exactly Chu Shuzhi did, because Chu Shuzhi tells Zhao Yunlan that while yes, he broke the law in anger a hundred years ago, he accepted his punishment and that should be the end of it. (A stance Zhao Yunlan agrees with, since he gave a very similar argument to the Inspectorate.)
It’s also a really good lead-in to all the dream shenanigans we’re about to get. Chu Shuzhi’s backstory with Nianzhi is introduced, we’re told to start wondering about what Chu Shuzhi’s crime is (and how true the story he’s telling about it is!), and this highlights the mess of feelings between Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng.
I’m really fascinated by how easily Chu Shuzhi leans into this act of being terrifying and dangerous. He is! There’s no doubt about that! But he takes it a step further, passing into territory that’s easily agreed to be taboo, to try and make Guo Changcheng go away. Has he done this act before? If so, for what purpose? (It feels like he must’ve done this before; he’s got so many details, and is so comfortable acting the part, and seems so surprised when it doesn’t work.)
Guo Changcheng keeps following him despite this, of course, because Guo Changcheng’s always been braver than people expect him to be. He epitomizes “be scared, but do it anyway”; especially in the moment where he’s halfway to crying but still determined to follow Chu Shuzhi as best he can just because Zhao Yunlan ordered him to and he said he would. Gotta keep his promises, after all!
Fear doesn’t work to get him to stop. It’s when Chu Shuzhi finally shows his actual emotions and goes soft and more apologetic that Guo Changcheng stops and stays still. He doesn’t think Chu Shuzhi will really hurt him (and he doesn’t; Chu Shuzhi might grab him by the chin but he doesn’t harm Guo Changcheng at all), so fear tactics aren’t effective.
On the other hand, emotional honesty and an explanation and a promise that Chu Shuzhi will be back eventually? That’s Chu Shuzhi moving to meet Guo Changcheng in the style of communication that Guo Changcheng prefers (and often uses himself). Guo Changcheng might not be happy about this, but he at least lets Chu Shuzhi leave this time. (Even if he does still follow, more slowly, and gets really badly hurt/nearly dies as a result.)
Some Questions
1. They sell this so well. On my first viewing, I did come out of this going “Yeah, that seems like something Chu Shuzhi could’ve done and probably actually did do at some point”. I think it took until we were shown the proper flashbacks for me to go “...oh that’s what actually happened?” Do any of you remember your first viewing and if you believed Chu Shuzhi?
2. Relatedly, how much do you think Guo Changcheng believed Chu Shuzhi? He’s certainly terrified! But even without buying into the cannibalism, Chu Shuzhi’s actions would be scary enough for such a reaction!
3. Why do you think Chu Shuzhi wants to scare Guo Changcheng off? Is it just to keep him out of danger? Because Chu Shuzhi can’t bear to be around people right now? Both of those? Something else? (And, why choose this method? Is this about what Zhao Yunlan says earlier, that Chu Shuzhi resorts to violence as an answer to questions more often than not?)
Please share any other thoughts you have as well! Any questions I give are just starting points, after all. :)
I’d also love to hear about fanworks, meta, etc. related to this scene!
I’m using the community’s subs as my reference for dialogue. There are a mildly gratuitous number of screenshots because I really like Chu Shuzhi.
Lead-up
The scenes leading up to this conversation are Chu Shuzhi confronting the Regent about where Shen Wei is (wherein we are told he’s three days away from being released from the chunqiu shackles/his punishment), and Chu Shuzhi discovering that Chu Nianzhi’s puppet is gone (and getting understandably upset) and yelling at the Regent over this.
The Regent tells us that Chu Shuzhi was jailed for manslaughter (something Chu Shuzhi says he doesn’t want to repeat) and that Ye Zun has the puppet.
The Scene
Chu Shuzhi stomps through the streets of Dixing, Guo Changcheng hurrying behind. When Guo Changcheng calls his name, Chu Shuzhi stops with a dramatic sigh and eye-roll. He turns to face Guo Changcheng and why he’s still following; doesn’t he know who Chu Shuzhi is?
Guo Changcheng stutters out that he knows, and then says “No, no, I don’t know,” and continues to stammer as he tries to figure out what to say.
Chu Shuzhi interrupts him, shouting, “Didn’t you hear me? I’m a murderer!”
As Guo Changcheng continues not-quite-crying, Chu Shuzhi stalks in and says, “I don’t just kill people.”
He grabs Guo Changcheng by the back of his neck and draws him closer (which is quite sexy of him) before adding, “I also eat them.”
Guo Changcheng looks terrified as Chu Shuzhi really gets into this, asking if Guo Changcheng’s ever eaten human flesh while staring at Guo Changcheng’s neck like he’s about to chomp down.
Chu Shuzhi circles around behind Guo Changcheng while describing how “smooth and tender” human flesh is.
Then Chu Shuzhi grabs him and talks about how chewy cartilage is.
His diction slows as he talks about how fresh meat is so nice and warm, and then Chu Shuzhi chuckles, strokes his thumb along Guo Changcheng’s neck, and sniffs at Guo Changcheng’s ear.
Then he calls himself a man-eating demon, and Guo Changcheng really looks like he’s about to cry.
Chu Shuzhi laughs and ruffles Guo Changcheng’s hair, then lets his hand slide down Guo Changcheng’s shoulder before he begins to walk away.
Guo Changcheng, still very frightened, scurries along behind him. Chu Shuzhi pauses, as if in disbelief, then turns to look at Guo Changcheng and asks, “What, you really want me to eat you?”
Guo Changcheng doesn’t say anything. Chu Shuzhi turns, and keeps walking, and Guo Changcheng continues to follow. This time, Chu Shuzhi shouts, “Run away before I get mad.”
Guo Changcheng responds to this. He’s terrified, but he says, “No,” because Zhao Yunlan told him to follow Chu Shuzhi and he’s going to do it no matter what.
Chu Shuzhi turns and grabs Guo Changcheng by the chin, palm against his neck, and rushes him backwards; it looks like he’s carrying more of Guo Changcheng’s weight than Guo Changcheng is.
When they stop moving and Chu Shuzhi starts talking again, he’s holding all of Guo Changcheng off the ground with a single hand. This looks like it should be very uncomfortable for Guo Changcheng.
The root of why Chu Shuzhi’s so upset comes out now, as he complains (again) about how the penalty should’ve been enough. But now he adds, “How dare they disturb him [Chu Nianzhi] again?”
Chu Shuzhi shouts, “He’s already dead!” as he tosses Guo Changcheng aside.
Guo Changcheng lies on the ground, panting, and a lot of Chu Shuzhi’s anger seems to have been thrown away along with Guo Changcheng. It’s much more grief, now, as he quietly says, “There’s only so much I can do for him.”
He crouches down next to Guo Changcheng, and gently says, “Go back. Tell Zhao Yunlan I am nobody. No courage, no ability.” as a melancholy instrumental theme starts playing (I keep arguing with myself over if it’s ‘I Won’t Be Falling’ or ‘Chuxin’; I think it’s the latter but I’m not sure).
Chu Shuzhi continues, saying, “I’m a nobody anyone can trample on, but now I’m going to get back what is mine. When everything is over, I’ll go back to apologise.”
Guo Changcheng makes a truly agonised face as Chu Shuzhi stands up, and grief is clear on Chu Shuzhi’s face as he turns away.
His eyes are all red-rimmed with tears, and he walks away. Guo Changcheng, still on the ground, watches him go.
The scene ends there, and cuts to Shen Wei chained up on the Sky Pillar. (Chu Shuzhi is about to arrive, try to free Shen Wei, and start having a lot of feelings about Nianzhi because of Ye Zun’s fuckery.)
Some Thoughts
…first off, Chu Shuzhi being terrifying and trying to scare Guo Changcheng off is very hot and I just need to say this so that I can have more thoughtful words go through my head. xD
This scene comes in the middle of an episode that begins with Chu Shuzhi and Zhao Yunlan arguing, continues with Guo Changcheng having a bad dream about Chu Shuzhi choking him, and pivots around the SID team reacting to news spreading that they harbor a “heinous murderer”. All of this is priming viewers to remember Chu Shuzhi’s violence, so that we’re ready to accept the idea that he might have done something so terrible.
We’ve also been primed to wonder what exactly Chu Shuzhi did, because Chu Shuzhi tells Zhao Yunlan that while yes, he broke the law in anger a hundred years ago, he accepted his punishment and that should be the end of it. (A stance Zhao Yunlan agrees with, since he gave a very similar argument to the Inspectorate.)
It’s also a really good lead-in to all the dream shenanigans we’re about to get. Chu Shuzhi’s backstory with Nianzhi is introduced, we’re told to start wondering about what Chu Shuzhi’s crime is (and how true the story he’s telling about it is!), and this highlights the mess of feelings between Chu Shuzhi and Guo Changcheng.
I’m really fascinated by how easily Chu Shuzhi leans into this act of being terrifying and dangerous. He is! There’s no doubt about that! But he takes it a step further, passing into territory that’s easily agreed to be taboo, to try and make Guo Changcheng go away. Has he done this act before? If so, for what purpose? (It feels like he must’ve done this before; he’s got so many details, and is so comfortable acting the part, and seems so surprised when it doesn’t work.)
Guo Changcheng keeps following him despite this, of course, because Guo Changcheng’s always been braver than people expect him to be. He epitomizes “be scared, but do it anyway”; especially in the moment where he’s halfway to crying but still determined to follow Chu Shuzhi as best he can just because Zhao Yunlan ordered him to and he said he would. Gotta keep his promises, after all!
Fear doesn’t work to get him to stop. It’s when Chu Shuzhi finally shows his actual emotions and goes soft and more apologetic that Guo Changcheng stops and stays still. He doesn’t think Chu Shuzhi will really hurt him (and he doesn’t; Chu Shuzhi might grab him by the chin but he doesn’t harm Guo Changcheng at all), so fear tactics aren’t effective.
On the other hand, emotional honesty and an explanation and a promise that Chu Shuzhi will be back eventually? That’s Chu Shuzhi moving to meet Guo Changcheng in the style of communication that Guo Changcheng prefers (and often uses himself). Guo Changcheng might not be happy about this, but he at least lets Chu Shuzhi leave this time. (Even if he does still follow, more slowly, and gets really badly hurt/nearly dies as a result.)
Some Questions
1. They sell this so well. On my first viewing, I did come out of this going “Yeah, that seems like something Chu Shuzhi could’ve done and probably actually did do at some point”. I think it took until we were shown the proper flashbacks for me to go “...oh that’s what actually happened?” Do any of you remember your first viewing and if you believed Chu Shuzhi?
2. Relatedly, how much do you think Guo Changcheng believed Chu Shuzhi? He’s certainly terrified! But even without buying into the cannibalism, Chu Shuzhi’s actions would be scary enough for such a reaction!
3. Why do you think Chu Shuzhi wants to scare Guo Changcheng off? Is it just to keep him out of danger? Because Chu Shuzhi can’t bear to be around people right now? Both of those? Something else? (And, why choose this method? Is this about what Zhao Yunlan says earlier, that Chu Shuzhi resorts to violence as an answer to questions more often than not?)
Please share any other thoughts you have as well! Any questions I give are just starting points, after all. :)
I’d also love to hear about fanworks, meta, etc. related to this scene!
no subject
on the other, it would have been very hard to get it right and not ping Lao-Chu's sense of wrongness. Now, Ye Zun obviously isn't aware just how little he understands Shen Wei, but I wonder if the Nightmare Master is a little more self-aware on that front and therefore didn't try?
Oh, good point, yes.